Death’s Favorite Pet now free to read!

In January 2014 I had a very very short story called “Death’s Favorite Pet” published in DarkFuse’s micro-fiction series Horror D’oeuvres. I was thrilled to land this publication, particularly because it completed my requirements to become an active member of the Horror Writers Association, but DarkFuse was (and still is) only available to subscribers. So while I got to find lots of new readers, many of my regular followers weren’t able to read the piece without paying.

Luckily, “Death’s Favorite Pet” has just been reprinted in The Sirens Call eZine, so now you can read it for free! This happens to be Sirens Call Publications’ 5th annual Women in Horror Month issue, but don’t let the title fool you. My short little piece is far more poignant than frightening, so even my scaredy-cats should be safe. 🙂

So if you missed “Death’s Favorite Pet” the first time around, or if it’s simply been a while, I hope you’ll take a minute (and it’s really, really short, so that’s probably literal), to read it now, right on your phone/computer. If I did it right, you should be able to click directly on the image above to download. (If that doesn’t work for you, you can click on the cover image on this page to download your copy.) I’m on page 82.

Big thanks to Sirens Call for reprinting “Death’s Favorite Pet!” I hope you’ve all had a great February/Women in Horror Month, and I hope you enjoy the story. ♥

Annie

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in My Works | Tagged | 19 Comments

Book Title Poems Take 2

Several years ago I stumbled across the existence of book title poems and knew I had to try them. It was a blast, a perfect convergence of several of my hobbies and passions, so I’m not sure why I pretty much forgot about it until recently when my friend Carie Juettner posted some of her own. They’re fantastic; you should go read them for sure. Seeing Carie’s brought it all back in a rush, and I decided it’s past time since I make some more.

To start, here’s one to kick off Women in Horror Month. Click the photos to enlarge, but the full text will be below each poem.

Satan Says

Mother of Eden,
dark Eden,
the dark half
killing it softly.

Darkness, tell us
strange little girls
beware:
sharp objects,
burnt offerings,
garden of shadows.

No sanctuary
for the queen of the damned.


Now a shorter one, just because:

The Emotion Thesaurus

Under the skin:
old flames,
damsel distressed,
guilty pleasures,
the warrior ethos,
fear itself–
the lives of the heart.


And finally, how about a little romance? I’m going to claim that this one got a little saucy in honor of impending Valentine’s Day. 😉

As I Lay Dying

Love speaks its name:
needful things,
pale fire,
ardent
whispers.
Come, thief;
you come when I call you.
Darkness demands
erotic poems.


It was fun to play with this again. I hope you enjoyed my poems. If any of you have made your own or decide to try it, I’d love to see the results! Link me, paste, photo, whatever. Have fun.

Happy February!

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in My Works | Tagged | 10 Comments

Resolve to Track Your Miles in 2017

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had as nice a turning of the calendar page as I did, whether you partied hard, binged on Netflix, or (if you’re super cool like me) got all of your tax preparation for 2016 ironed out. 😉

I know; I’m hopeless. I’ve found that what I like best about a new year isn’t actually the fresh start so much as the firmly closed door. I like to finish things. I like a completed project, list, book, etc. so I can sort and file it accordingly. A calendar year is no different. Part of my joy on New Year’s Day has become organizing.

I set up my new planner (which includes setting my goals and intentions) and store my old one away. I square off my financial records for work and print them so they’ll be easy to see come tax time (more on that later). I go through my joy jar to reflect on all the wonderful things that happened in the past year, and then I create a new label and empty the jar for the year to come. I may never make it onto a list of the top 100 super cool people, but it’s incredibly satisfying.

Which brings me to the crux of today’s post. I realized that it’s been a little while since I added any new documents to The Organized Writer. My hope in 2017 is to have a writer’s expense/earning spreadsheet available by tax day (April 18th.) My intention is for it to be the first for-purchase resource available at The Organized Writer, because although the donation system is better than nothing, the trickle of tips isn’t quite cutting it.

But since I don’t have that spreadsheet ready yet, today I’m offering something related: my work mileage tracking chart. It’s a super simple little freebie, and as with all of my documents, you’re welcome to modify it to suit your needs. In fact, it’s one I’ve modified from one sent to me by author Regina Richards, who first encouraged me to start tracking my miles. So big thanks, Regina!

If you haven’t been keeping track of your work mileage for tax purposes, how great and easy of a resolution would that be for 2017?

Although this document is at The Organized Writer, it can be used for pretty much any occupation. In fact, feel free to print two or more on different colored paper to keep track of your mileage for all of your jobs. And yes, writers, you should be doing this too! If you file taxes, you should track miles. Driving to and from critique groups, writers’ meetings, conferences, speaking events, book signings, etc. are all valid work expenses.

All you need to do is print the document, stick it on a clipboard or in a folder, and put it with a pen in your car. Preferably somewhere that you’ll notice it, like in your side door, to remind you to get into the habit of resetting your odometer before each work trip. When you get home, fill out the few relevant fields (date, destination, purpose, mileage, etc., like “1/2/17, Such and Such Coffee Shop, research interview with Joann, 10.6 miles”). That’s it! Come tax time, add up your miles and deduct, deduct, deduct.

For those of you unfamiliar with Excel, the best way to print this is to highlight the relevant cells (A1-G100) and “print selection” with the option to “fit all columns on one page.” You’ll have a handy little 3-page chart to keep in your car.

As far as resolutions go, this one is free, easy, and potentially saves/earns you money come tax time. It doesn’t get much better than that, right?

Of course, if you like the mileage tracking chart or enjoy any of the other resources available for free at The Organized Writer, please consider tipping me a dollar or two through PayPal! If you can’t spare the change, please don’t worry; you’re still welcome to the resources.

I wish you all a happy, productive, and wonderful 2017, whether it keeps you near or takes you far.

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in The Business | Tagged , | 13 Comments

What I Want for Christmas

One of the nicest questions I get as an author is “How can I help?” This desire to be supportive is one of the most touching things I can think of. Publishing is a career built brick by brick from the ground up, and every single brick matters.

For writers with a single-author book out, the answer is pretty easy: buy my book, read my book, buy my book, review my book, buy my book… well, you get it. But for me, since I don’t have a single-author book out yet (still working on it), the answer gets a bit muddier. I can’t in good conscious ask anyone to buy all of the anthologies, magazines, etc. that have my stories, poems, and essays in them. I mean, if someone loves my work enough to follow me that closely and buy what they can, I’m forever grateful. Truly. But I’m also a realist. If you’re like me, you have only so much book money a year, and you have dozens and dozens of authors you want to read.

So what can you do to help?

Annie’s Christmas Wish List

♦ If you can afford to spend a little, donating through PayPal is the most concrete way to support my cheese habit cover my business expenses. Even tips of one or two dollars add up!

♦ Buying the publications my work appears in may not put money directly in my pocket (I usually get paid up front rather than royalties), but it is, after all, the entire reason I write to begin with – to be read. Not to mention that each purchase to publishers who buy my work is a turn of the cog in the machine that keeps me and all writers going.

♦ Can’t afford new books right now? Much of my work is available for free online! Browse through the list here to see works to buy and read free. Looking for something specific, such as ‘pretty, not scary’ or ‘super scary plz’? I’m happy to recommend. 🙂

♦ If you read and like any of my work, leaving positive reviews wherever possible is a huge way to help spread the word. (You don’t have to mention my work specifically, either, to review an anthology or whatnot.) Amazon and Goodreads are both great.

Replace your Amazon bookmark with my affiliate link. No charge to you or change to your shopping process, but I’ll get a little boost from anything you buy. If every person reading did this free, easy thing and shared it with one friend, I could probably cover my business expenses for an entire year.

♦ Even better, if you’re buying one of my books or something I recommend (I have categories for writing craft books, recommendations by genre, office décor, and more), buy directly from my Amazon Store to give me a slightly bigger cut.

♦ Like my Facebook page, set it to “see 1st,” and like/share as many posts as you feel apt to. It really helps with exposure, because Facebook is a butthead. Likewise friending/following/sharing on Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon is nice. They are slightly less of buttheads but also slightly less effective.

♦ If you know someone who might like my work, whether the horror, the poetry, or even my blog, please share it with them. That means the world to me.

♦ Subscribe to my blog so you get all of my latest news, discussions, and publications. Thoughtful comments are also always welcome, because no one likes feeling like they’re shouting into the void.

♦ And last but certainly not least, if you have anything nice to say, I’d love to hear it, even if I don’t know you, even if it’s just to say, “I look forward to your blogs in my inbox,” “Your poem in that magazine was cool,” or “Hey, nice cheese collection.” Seriously, the occasional reader note of encouragement is invaluable when the path looks long and dark. They keep me going. ♥

Thank you all, so much, for your support. Happy holidays of every flavor, friends.

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in The Business | 15 Comments

How to Love a World that Sucks Sometimes

Be still.

Sit in a quiet room, alone, and stop moving. Get comfortable first, because, seriously, stop moving. Be still.

Let your emotions be what they are. Rage. Despair. Fight. Grieve. Numb out. Give up. Stop caring. Feel guilty. Feel brave. Feel self-righteous. Try not to change things. Try not to overanalyze them. Try not to censor yourself. Be whatever you need to be, but be still. Let it happen for as long as it needs to happen.

Slowly, when you’re ready and/or exhausted for the moment, draw your attention towards the fact that you are sitting. You are mostly still. You are breathing, swallowing, wavering. Scan the feeling of physicality for as long as you need to, with an intention toward relaxing tense things and seeking mild comfort. Unfurl your fingers. Uncrease your brow. Loosen your jaw. Drop your shoulders. Notice your toes, your knees, your tailbone. Let out your belly.

Become aware of your breath specifically. Feel how it comes in through the nostrils or over the tongue, what it’s like down the throat, into the lungs. Notice how your ribs move, your spine, your shoulders, your diaphragm. Feel the reverse, the release, the billow out. Don’t seek peace. Don’t think Zen. Don’t worry about Nirvana. Just breathe and be here, still, noticing keenly what that entails and how it feels.

Thoughts will come and distract you. That’s fine. The brain never stops; that’s not a fault on your part. Let thoughts come, and once you notice them, let them drift away as you refocus on breathing.

Do this until you stop itching to check your phone, shift around, or look at your calendar. Do this until you become poignantly grateful for the fact that we breathe despite how complicated a process it is, that we live despite how complex our bodies, that we exist in spectacular and mundane frailty – every single moment.

Good. Thank yourself for taking the time to do this. (There are other things, but you don’t have to do them all at once.)

Now go for a walk somewhere with trees. Try not to find any humans. A sidewalk will do if it must. If you live near a hiking trail, go there, even if it’s hot or cold or you’re tired or your shin hurts. Walk slow, if you need to. Take breaks, if you need to. Wheel yourself, if you need to. Don’t look at your phone. Don’t listen to music. Don’t time yourself. Just go to the nearest, most undisturbed nature you can find and move around.

Trees, you may notice, are easy to love. Trees are still and silent and unerringly generous. Trees are flexible but strong. Trees are tall and stately. Trees are absolutely perfect, and you can spend as much time under and around and in them as you please. Hug one. I won’t tell. Just to see – notice your breath while you’re there, with the trees.

Look up at the sky. Let yourself feel foolish and small and allow yourself to re-find that awe you feel at how large the ceiling is. The sun warms your face, or the wind chills your neck, or the moon lights everything with a strange glow, or the clouds draw a blanket over the sky. Regardless, it’s amazing, isn’t it? Just think about how large it is, how far it goes over and around our world, how distant on and on into space. Just try to fathom an existence so big that even the largest trees feel minute within it. You and trees share that.

Now, here’s a good part: find a cat. Or a dog. Or a hamster or sweet bird or rabbit or any warm and friendly critter that will let you hold them. If you don’t have your own, borrow a friend’s or visit an animal shelter.

Lavish attention and affection on them. Give and receive. Look deep into their eyes, study their face, stroke their ears or soft bellies or downy chests. Snuggle up or rough house a little – whatever you both want. Sit nearby if they’re shy. Talk to them. Tell them anything you want. Ask them questions. Wait for answers. Be as ridiculous or morose or cuddly as you feel like being. Do this for as long as you can reasonably allow yourself to. Try, if possible, to do most of it without other humans.

Other humans are last.

Reach out to someone that you know and care about. Your mom. Your sibling. Your best friend, spouse, or mentor. Your child, your colleague, someone you may not even know all that well just yet, but want to. A therapist or counselor. A trusted teacher or coach. Ask them to go get dinner or coffee. Set up a meeting or a phone date. Skype. Write them an email, or better yet, a letter. Ask them all about what’s going on in their life and how they’re doing and what they feel, and don’t talk about yourself unless asked. Be honest. Be open. Don’t pretend to be happy if you aren’t. Don’t pretend to be brave or smart or anything impressive, really. Just try to be authentic. Nervousness certainly counts as authenticity, when necessary.

This doesn’t have to go on forever or be a huge commitment. You’re not trying to accomplish anything. You don’t even have to set up a next meeting, if you don’t want to. Thank yourself for reaching out. Thank the other person for accepting.

Now go to the store at a time with lots of people. You can shop if you want. Multitasking is okay now. But the important part is to watch the people. Do the opposite of what we’ve been doing all this time so far. Don’t go in; go out. Forget about yourself and forget about your feelings and forget about your breath (it does take care of itself, thank goodness). Just watch.

Watch the mother red-faced trying to quiet her screaming child. Watch the college boy in baggy sweats reading the label of every bottle of dish soap. Watch the old woman slowly circling the adult diaper aisle, waiting for it to empty. Watch the little boy playing hopscotch on the floor tiles. Watch the little girl watching him with big eyes. Watch the couple begging gas money at the entrance. Watch the tweens walking on autopilot while they scroll on their phones. Watch the clerk tiredly restocking the produce. Watch the man playing at the free video game sample station. Watch them all, but don’t make up their backstories. Don’t try to empathize or judge or even understand. Watch them exactly how you watched the trees – the stars.

Notice how complex they are, how attractive and ugly and interesting. Notice colors and shapes and sounds and smells and how they come together to make up these people. These amazing, moving people who breathe constantly and watch TV and go for walks under trees sometimes and let friends borrow their dogs for emergency snuggle sessions. These multifaceted strangers good and bad. These people who cry. These people who live and die.

Look for freckles. Look for braids. Look for hunches in backs and polish on nails.

Look at them all, and feel what you feel, and realize that no matter the time or the outcome, comedy or tragedy, outer space or rumbling purr, we are a part of a rather phenomenal existence. Look at it all and believe that all of it, one way or another, is unfathomably beautiful. Be here, and check in with your breath, and understand that this, too, is love.

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in Personal | 24 Comments